Improved printing-press



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE F. FOLSM, OF ROXBURY, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVED PRINTING-PRESS.

T0 a/ZZ whom, it may concern:

Be itknown that I, GEORGE F. FOLSOM, of Roxbury, in the'county of Norfolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Printing-Presses, of which the followingis a full, clear, and exact description,referencebeinghadtotheannexed drawings, making part of this specification, in which- Figure l is a plan; Fig. 2, a side View; Fig. 3, a longitudinal section upon the line A A of Fig. l; Figs. 4, 5, 6,'7, 8, and 9, detached views, which will be referred to hereinafter.

The nature of my invention consists in the use of two bed-plates and two platens in the same machine, in combination with an endless rotary paper-carrier, by means of which the paper after being printed upon one sidc is carried to the other form and printed upon the opposite side, the paper leaving the machine printed upon both sides.

To enable others skilled in the art to understand my invention, I will proceed to describe the manner in which I have carried it out.

In the accompanying drawings, B is the f rame-work of the press.

C C are two stationary bed-plates secured to the standards D.

E E are the platens, their shaft F F sliding vertically in the bearings G G. These platens are made simultaneously to approach the bed-plates at the required intervals to give the impressions in the following manner:

H is a shaft to which the power is applied which drives the press. I are pinions upon each end of this shaft (seen in red in Figs. l and 2) and which engage with cog-wheels K, each of which carries two cranks a, cast in one piece therewith. rFliese wheels, with their cranks, are seen detached in Fig. 5.

L L are pitmen, which communicate motion from the cranks a to the cross-heads M IWI', by which means as the shaft II revolves the platens are made to approach the bedplates C C and the impression is given. The cog-wheels K are secured to the shaft N. The platens E E are separated from the bedplates after the impression is made by the springs O O', the ends of whichbearupon-the frame of the machine.

The forms are secured the lower one to the plat-en E', and the upper one to the bed-plate C. The types are inked in the following manner: P are endless chains which run upon the carrying-wheels Q and to which the feeding-nippers and the inking-rollers are attached. In the press represented i u the accompanying drawings there are five sets of ink-rolls c and nippers d, which are attached to the carriers h upon the endless chain P.

This chain receives an intermittent motion iu one direction in the following manner: R is a cog-wheel, which engages with the pinion I and drives the cog-wheel S. This latter wheel engages with the wheel T upon the shaft U. This shaft carries near its center an eccentric V, Fig. 3, which actuates a lifter-toe WV upon the shaft X. Y is an arm secured to this shaft, which carries a cogged segment Z. This latter engages with a gear A', which runs loosely upon the shaft Zand is seen in red in Figs. 2 and 3 and in blue in Fig. 7. F is a pawl attached to one of the carrying-wheels Q, which are secured to the shaft d and revolve with it. e is a spring which keeps the pawl in contact with the teeth of the wheel A. As, now, this latter wheel is revolved in the Adirection of the arrow by the cogged segment Z it carries with it the carriers Q and the endless chain P. When it is revolved in the other direction bythe return of the segment Z, no motion is communicated to the carrier Q. g is a retaining-pawl attached to the frame-work which engages with the ratchetwheel t', secured to the shaft d, by which means this shaft and its carriers Q are held stationary while thesegment Z returns. This return of the segment is effected by the spring H, one end of which is secured to the framework at 7c and the other to the shaft X.

I will now describe the manner in which the paper is fed to the nippers. Mzis a lever pivoted to the framework and connected by the rod N to the vibrating segment Z. At the other end it carries a pawl Z, which engages with a ratchet-wheel upon the feedroll P. As the segment Z vibrates to feed forward the chain, motion is thus communicated to the feed-apron Q', which passes over the roller s, running in the arms r, as seen in Figs. l, 2, and 3. T is a presser rod or binder which is supported by the arms q and is borne down upon the feed-apron by the spring d2. The paper is now arranged in parcels of twenty sheets, more or less, as seen a laats motion. The paper thus arranged is placed upon the feed-apron, so that the presserrod T shall bear upon the uppermost edge of the top sheet, as seen in Figs. l and S. The feedapron being now set in motion, the paper is carried forward sufficiently far to free the top sheet from the presser-rod T and to bring it into position to be seized by the nippers d, which remain stationary immediately in advance of the apron to receive it. The paper having been thus fed forward hangs a short distance over the end of the feed-apron,

Y and at the required instant is placed in the nippers in the following manner: m is a shaft which runs in stationary boxes in the frame and upon which rest the arms r, which carry the feeding-apron. The latter is thus kept up out of the way of the ink-rollers and nippers, as seen in Figs. 2 and 8, which are allowed to pass freely beneath it. The instant after the passage of the nippers the projecting edge O2 of the sheet of paper is placed therein, the apron being caused to drop su ficiently for the purpose in the following manner: I is a pulley upon the shaft U, which communicates motion through the band K to the pulley L upon the shaft m. This shaft is so cut away at the point where the arms o' rest thereon, as seen in Fig. 9, that at a certain instant in its revolution, when the notch n cornes opposite to the notch p in the arms 9', the latter shall drop a sufficient distance to enter the sheet of paperinto the nippers,\vhich now start forward with this sheet, the presser-rod Tbearing upon the upper edge of the next sheet, and thus but one sheet is carried at any one time into the machine.

Any suitable form of nippers may be made use of for carrying the paper into the machine, but as this forms no part of my present invention the details of these nippcrs need not be further described.

In Fig. 6 is seen the device by which the nippers are opened for the purpose of dropping the printed sheet. R (seen also in position in Fig. 3) is a hook Whicli catches into a pin upon the nippers and opens them as they pass. The sheet being thus released falls upon the table B beneath.

Operation: The paper being arranged in parcels of twelve to twenty sheets, as already described and as represented in Fig: S, is placed upon the feedapron, the rod T bea-r ing upon the upper edge of the top sheet. The paper is now fed forward by the backward motion of the segment Z a sufficient distance t6 free the top sheet from the presser-rod. The feed-apron being held up out of the way of the ink-roll by the shaft m, the rolls having passed from beneath the feed-apron, the notch u now passes the notch 19 in the arms r and the latter drop. The projecting edge O2 of the paper is thus plaeedin the nippers, the presser-rod T bearing upon the next sheet and preventing it from being drawn off with the one before it. The eccentric V now strikes against the lifting-toe NV, and by the motion of the segment Z the chain, with the ink-rolls and nippers, is fed forward a sufcient distance to place the sheet of paper over the forni upon the bed-plate C. Vhile this is taking place anothersheet, which the instant before was printed upon the bed-plate C, is carried over the form upon the platen E', and as the shaft N continues to revolve the platen E is caused to descend and E to ascend by the connections already explained, and an impression is taken from each form and the paper leaves the machine printed upon both sides. The nippers now are opened by the hook R and the sheet is dropped upon the table B.

That I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, isl. The method herein described of giving the impressions with the two platens by means of the gearK and double cranks a, operating in the manner substantially as herein set forth.

2. The method herein described of feeding the sheets into the nippers by means of the binder T', in combination with an intermittent feed, operating in the manner set forth.

GEORGE F. FOLSOM. Witnesses:

SAM COOPER, JOHN S. GLOW. 

